Home Fires of the Great War, by Rebekah A. Morris

“Thirteen-year-old Maria Mitchell, known to all as Ria, and her friend Lydia have been assigned to write a report on a hero or heroine of the Great War (World War I) for a school project. Instead of picking some well known figure, the two friends decide to search for someone forgotten or unknown. When asked to help, Emma Mitchell, Ria’s Mom, brings out old letters she and a cousin wrote during the war. The girls are sure the letters hold the key to their success of finding a forgotten hero! But will they? It that all that these letters bring to light? Join Ria and Lydia, Mrs. Mitchell, an old neighbor called Corporal, and others as they re-live the years of home life during the war.” ~synopsis

Title: Home Fires of the Great War

Author: Rebekah A. Morris

Genre(s): Christian Historical Fiction (I guess?)

Rating: ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ ❤ (five stars)

Romance Content: Speaks of people getting married; at one point an unmarried couple is left alone, which I do not agree with, but I do appreciate that the young man asked her father before proposing.

Recommended age range: 10+, or as a family read-aloud

My Review:

While some debut novels may not be as good as the succeeding ones, this is not the case for Miss Morris’s books! I’m not sure which of her novels (that I’ve read) I like the best, but this one was excellent!

I loved the letters between the cousins (which is mostly what the book is composed of). While I’ve read similar books with letters or diary entries in them, I don’t remember any that were this good. As a pen pal myself, the letters inspired me to make my letters more interesting!

This book has so many emotions intertwined: humor, sadness, joy… I loved it! While I can’t say there was a specific “high” or “low” point of the book, I feel that’s more realistic to everyday life: there are highs and lows throughout life!

At one point I believe there is a mention of going to a Catholic church, there are some mentions of injuries/sicknesses, and there are many stories of little boys and girls getting into trouble (which I found hilarious, but you may want to be careful who you read it to; don’t give your little brothers any ideas!). Romance content is listed above. I think this book is appropriate for all ages, and would work well as a read-aloud… except that it’s so long, it would take a while to read out loud, but I don’t find that to be a huge issue. 😉

I loved reading this book, and I highly recommend it to all!